'2012 was a year of transition', Dougan said in the company’s statement. 'We took significant steps to adapt our businesses and our organization to new regulatory requirements, changing client demands and the current market environment'.

'Credit Suisse has a number of levers to improve earnings momentum through investment banking and private banking franchises, supported by an aggressive cost savings plan', analysts Huw van Steenis and Hubert Lam said in a note before Thursday’s release.